Music Business Networking Tip for Females

Let’s get straight to the point:

Until you have developed a WORKING/BUSINESS relationship, conduct yourself in a business-like manner. When I say this, I mean that you should be more polite than friendly. This means you greet with a handshake, not a hug. Laughing and smiling are fine but stay away from flirting… including with body language. Do not use your body to show interest, like you would if you were trying to make friends or stroke the male ego. Resist the temptation to make “friends” first in this male dominated business. If the meeting goes well, a polite hug at your exit would be okay. A nice smile and a handshake would be better.

There are a couple reasons for all this, the first of which is branding. If your method of networking in the music business is overly friendly, flirty, or girly… guess what… you don’t come off as a member of the industry… you come off like a groupie. Imagine being seen at an event hugging all the artists. Imagine how it looks to have pictures all over Facebook where you are with these artists/producers, but you aren’t in the studio working, you are hugging in a club. Yes, I know, you are just being friendly, creating rapport, etc. But to everyone else, you look star struck, misguided, and unprofessional. Amazing how that happens.

Sidebar: I would avoid sending random friendly tweets to celebrities you don’t know or have only met once. This puts you into the category of FAN instead of singer/writer/producer/etc… and the whole twitterverse gets to witness it.

Another reason is that if you start off trying to be friends, then you will quickly be one of the many women that complain that every male in the business wants to get in their pants. A more businesslike approach will not eliminate this completely but I believe it will help.

What are your thoughts? Hit me up.
-Steez

Make Assumptions

They say not to ever make assumptions. I say that's bullshit. For instance, isn't it healthier to assume that you will be successful in your current efforts and endeavors, than to wait and find out? I believe assuming success will provide you with the confidence to carry out your actions in such a manner that will BRING you that success.

The belief that making assumptions makes you look like an ass is rooted in the idea that acting without proper knowledge will have negative consequences. It basically just means, be prepared and educate yourself about the situation to the fullest extent possible. However, telling people to never assume anything can be very misleading. Furthermore, it is not always necessary to know every detail about every situation. Why? Because its okay to make mistakes, and the only way to get anything accomplished is through ACTION, not constant research or question asking.

This being said, i am not advocating acting within the shroud of ignorance. I'm simply saying that sometimes its okay to assume something. If you end up being wrong, so what? Cross that bridge when you get there. This is how you calibrate and develop instincts. Act, fail, learn, act, succeed.

Trey Songz - Can't Be Friends

New Pro Tools HD Hardware

Anybody had the pleasure of using any of these interfaces?

Cee-Lo Green Does It Again!

This man always finds a way to make something as comical (and profane) as a "fuck you" song sound timeless. This song is a classic. Am I the only one who could hear Sam Cooke singing this?

-ZS

Monitoring Levels

I am blessed to meet a lot of talented producers. Usually the first thing they do when they find out that I am an engineer is ask me what they can do to make their mixes better. Obviously, there is no magic pill to give you mixing skills overnight. There are however, a few things you can do that will make dramatic improvements. Since I love you guys so much, i will share these.

The first one that comes to mind is the elusive obvious: vary your monitoring levels.

Producers, as a general rule, like their music LOUD. They turn it up, make sure the 808 is slammin', and mix the whole thing with the volume banging on 11. The problem with this is that you are fooling yourselves by taking advantage of the Fletcher Munson curve.



Explanation: The louder the volume, the flatter the frequency response. Meaning, if you turn it all the way up, there is less difference between your lows and highs. This will give you the illusion of having a more balanced mix. But then when you turn it back down, it will not be as balanced.

You want to vary your mix levels. Its okay to turn it up and make sure that kick is knocking, but mixing at that volume is bad for your mix AND your ears.

Hope this helps. Leave Comments/Question!!!
-ZS

Trey Songz - Passion, Pain & Pleasure: Coming Soon

This is one of the projects I have been working on for the past couple months. The album is going to be amazing... great music. It drops Sept. 14th 2010.

Make sure you check out the first two singles:

Bottoms Up ft. Nicki Minaj

Can't Be Friends

Videos for both songs are on the way!